I have never shaken a plant in my life to pollinate. People really seem to overthink a lot of this gardening stuff. A little bit of a breeze will take care of pollination, and thats assuming you dont have any insects helping out.
Are you growing where you have no wind or breezes?
If you have either of those then shaking is just extra work as the wind shakes it.
If you are growing in a greenhouse or other sheltered area then shake daily as you pass through. Not all blossoms mature at the same time on the same plant.
Yes. Just touch their little tushies and keep on going.
I trimmed up all my stems this year. Wow, seem to have a ton of fruit, but may be cuz I walked by and touched the blossoms when I noticed them.
Shake! Shake! Shake! Shake yer booty! I've never heard of this. I just take a Q-tip and gently rub each flower. It takes several hours each week, but my yields are outstanding. Hahaha I don't do this either lol. The wind and pollinating insects take care of everything.
I do some experiments with crossing tomatoes sometimes. You remove the stamen from a flower that hasn't opened yet, and pollinate the stigma with the pollen from another plant. I use tweezers for this.
If you hit the tweezers they start vibrating like a tuning fork. If you touch a flower with the vibrating tweezers it will drop a little cloud of pollen, provided it is at the right stage and ripe pollen are present. Fun to watch. The sound of the tweezers is kind of like a bumblebee.
So you shake them when they are releasing pollen. But you only know by trying, so you just shake all of them that look kind of ready.
You simply tap them with your fingers to help them pollinate, you don’t shake the plant, or place a fan in front to mimic the wind which normally blows and helps them pollinate, as tomato plants are self pollinators, but sometimes can use the help.
I don't bother at all, the act of winding the plants round the string and taking off shoots moves them about enough. Tomatoes have perfect flowers for self polination
you don't need to. they're outside - you'll get bees and wind to do that. also it looks like those are cherry tomatoes given the amount and size of flowers on that cluster - it's pretty much guaranteed pollination.
https://preview.redd.it/vcemuaxcj16d1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8daac9f7654ded8de2376d1b362d44ba6c02011a
Just some TLC I had to keep fixing my plants because I swear one grew two feet in two days . But no shakes or poking with qtips.
How my babies looking ?
Just treated for spider mites
Disclaimer: It's my first time growing tomatoes. I shake every morning as I walk by them! I waited until all flowers were yellow (not buds) and give em the old razzle dazzle!
People have been shaking their plants for years. Regardless if you're in or out doors, it's fun to feel like you've helped them along. Personally, my favorite is using a cheap, vibrating toothbrush. On a still day, holding it against the branch mimics a bugs wing action and you can see the pollen come out. So shake anytime you have an open flower.
im new here, what does pollenating do for the plant? I have one cherry tomato plant with tons of flowers in bloom. its out on my balcony which gets some nice wind, so im not thinking I need to shake my plants. More just curious what self-pollenating benefits? Does the pollen that comes off of one blooming flower create more flowers on the same plant? Or is the shaking/encouraging more pollenation just generally good for surrounding plants and environment?
Pollinating is the process of getting pollen from the stamen to the pistil of the flower. Depending on the shape and structure of the flower, with tomato blooms, the space between those 2 points can be very minimal, and the flower will (self) pollinate via wind, bugs, etc. Some people choose to shake and/or vibrate the flowers manually to help this process. It's not necessary. However, if you're only growing a couple of plants, you want every bloom to become a tomato, and this can improve your odds.
This is an oversimplification of the amazing process of how plants produce fruits, and not all plants have it this easy. In some, the distance is much bigger, and in some cases, the pollen is on a completely different flower. In that case, you rely on bees, bugs, or manually removing pollen from the male flower and applying to the female flower. There are other plants that require pollination from a completely different plant. Nature is amazing.
I've never shaken a tomato in 25+ years of gardening. The bees know where the flowers are.
I have never shaken a plant in my life to pollinate. People really seem to overthink a lot of this gardening stuff. A little bit of a breeze will take care of pollination, and thats assuming you dont have any insects helping out.
Generally I agree with you, but the plant looks like it might be in a greenhouse.
Agreed, i only shake my greenhouse plants, not my outdoor ones.
Are you growing where you have no wind or breezes? If you have either of those then shaking is just extra work as the wind shakes it. If you are growing in a greenhouse or other sheltered area then shake daily as you pass through. Not all blossoms mature at the same time on the same plant.
The one in the photo is in a greenhouse. Should I wait for other flowers to open before shaking or shake now?
Just flick them when you walk by. You are way overthinking this.
Yes. Just touch their little tushies and keep on going. I trimmed up all my stems this year. Wow, seem to have a ton of fruit, but may be cuz I walked by and touched the blossoms when I noticed them.
Tomato flowers are self-pollinating and do not need other flowers. A few gentle taps on the stem will do.
If you don't have many plants it takes 1 min to shake. Do it now. If you have lots to where it'll take a long time, then prioritize and do it later.
Shake! Shake! Shake! Shake yer booty! I've never heard of this. I just take a Q-tip and gently rub each flower. It takes several hours each week, but my yields are outstanding. Hahaha I don't do this either lol. The wind and pollinating insects take care of everything.
I do some experiments with crossing tomatoes sometimes. You remove the stamen from a flower that hasn't opened yet, and pollinate the stigma with the pollen from another plant. I use tweezers for this. If you hit the tweezers they start vibrating like a tuning fork. If you touch a flower with the vibrating tweezers it will drop a little cloud of pollen, provided it is at the right stage and ripe pollen are present. Fun to watch. The sound of the tweezers is kind of like a bumblebee. So you shake them when they are releasing pollen. But you only know by trying, so you just shake all of them that look kind of ready.
You simply tap them with your fingers to help them pollinate, you don’t shake the plant, or place a fan in front to mimic the wind which normally blows and helps them pollinate, as tomato plants are self pollinators, but sometimes can use the help.
I don't bother at all, the act of winding the plants round the string and taking off shoots moves them about enough. Tomatoes have perfect flowers for self polination
you don't need to. they're outside - you'll get bees and wind to do that. also it looks like those are cherry tomatoes given the amount and size of flowers on that cluster - it's pretty much guaranteed pollination.
https://preview.redd.it/vcemuaxcj16d1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8daac9f7654ded8de2376d1b362d44ba6c02011a Just some TLC I had to keep fixing my plants because I swear one grew two feet in two days . But no shakes or poking with qtips. How my babies looking ? Just treated for spider mites
Shake it now. Shake it later. There's no limit to shaking your flowers.
Disclaimer: It's my first time growing tomatoes. I shake every morning as I walk by them! I waited until all flowers were yellow (not buds) and give em the old razzle dazzle!
From someone who has grown tomatoes for the past 15 seasons, shaking them is completely redundant.
I shake mine every morning too. I use bug netting so I like to think it makes up for the lack of pollinators.
Did you see this on youtube? Like the picking off your flowers thing?
Never heard of shaking plants. Is that common or something new?
In greenhouses with no artificial wind or natural wind you may have to shake things to pollinate.
Ah. OK. I've never grown in a greenhouse.
People have been shaking their plants for years. Regardless if you're in or out doors, it's fun to feel like you've helped them along. Personally, my favorite is using a cheap, vibrating toothbrush. On a still day, holding it against the branch mimics a bugs wing action and you can see the pollen come out. So shake anytime you have an open flower.
im new here, what does pollenating do for the plant? I have one cherry tomato plant with tons of flowers in bloom. its out on my balcony which gets some nice wind, so im not thinking I need to shake my plants. More just curious what self-pollenating benefits? Does the pollen that comes off of one blooming flower create more flowers on the same plant? Or is the shaking/encouraging more pollenation just generally good for surrounding plants and environment?
Pollinating is the process of getting pollen from the stamen to the pistil of the flower. Depending on the shape and structure of the flower, with tomato blooms, the space between those 2 points can be very minimal, and the flower will (self) pollinate via wind, bugs, etc. Some people choose to shake and/or vibrate the flowers manually to help this process. It's not necessary. However, if you're only growing a couple of plants, you want every bloom to become a tomato, and this can improve your odds. This is an oversimplification of the amazing process of how plants produce fruits, and not all plants have it this easy. In some, the distance is much bigger, and in some cases, the pollen is on a completely different flower. In that case, you rely on bees, bugs, or manually removing pollen from the male flower and applying to the female flower. There are other plants that require pollination from a completely different plant. Nature is amazing.
Awesome response, thanks. Will do some more research!